Disclaimer:
I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...
Mischief Managed Damn It!
Title: Undulating Elysium (Working Title)
Posted Date: August 20 2024
Inspiration: Dune, Elysium, Treasure Planet, Stargate (1994), Star Wars
Tags: Scavenger / Smuggler Harry Potter, Caste System, Space, Hogwarts is mystical land, Multi Characters Galore, Magic is meant for nobility
Possible Challenges: No Prophecy, No Pairings, Cloned Harry
Hot winds blasted the dunes of Sol Aratooine with the top layer of sand moving in hypnotic waves, and the sun being the unforgiving mistress that would scorch the earth with the unrelenting heat. Whatever vegetation that could survive in this wilderness would be shrivelled and dried up, or the cactus that would store whatever precious water from deep within the ground while getting smothered in the sand. Any creatures that could live out here would need to be tough to handle both the environment and the predators that lurked beneath the sand.
It would be considered an inhabitable area if not for the sole figure that was cutting through the sand quickly.
The figure in question was a person wrapped entirely in cloth with the dark goggles being the only object breaking the trend. That person was also windsurfing with the large sail helping to catch the wind to propel it forward, its grid pattern showing that it was also absorbing the solar energy to power the small air jet at the bottom of the surfboard, the combined propulsions helping to increase the speeds needed to cut across the sand dunes easily and to help the user get to wherever they needed to get to.
And at the moment, the user really needed the speed.
The user had travelled further than they had originally intended to find a new spot to expand their water supply, and was trying to return home to outrun the windflare that could be heard in the distance. They were racing against the clock as it was, but something turned up halfway and they were now forced to take a more roundabout method to try and outrun their chaser. An act that was proving more difficult with said something being a natural predator in these parts that could burrow through the sand like it was swimming in water.
The individual was focusing on trying to stay out of its reach, their board occasionally leaping off the dunes before hitting the sand again. At least they had the sun and wind on their side, but with the wind flare approaching, they would lose the momentum sooner or later.
With some reluctance on their part, they decided to take a risk and pulled their sail hard to catch the wind at an angle, and made the surfboard go straight for the biggest sand dune in the vicinity. At the corner of their eye, they could see movement beneath the sand that disturbed the top surface and was going faster to catch up with them. The surfer kept up the speed to ensure there was enough distance before they did something to make the air jets roar with power and send them flying above and over the dune, before said dune erupted to reveal a big lizard with brown scales and more teeth than it should be allowed to have lurching for the surfer. At the apex of the flight, when it would appear the surfer was done for, they threw something at the creature that went right into the mouth, and within seconds a weird light appeared around its body with arcs of electricity moving around before it crashed to the ground and laid there in the sand.
The surfer landed on the sand and quickly pulled around to move towards the lizard, stopping a few feet away before the surfer got off the board and approached carefully with a collapsed staff extended to its full length. They paused one foot away and used the end of the staff to flick a stone at the lizard, the thin barrier rippling from the impact while the lizard remained still. They appeared to relax from that, and moved closer to examine the lizard, making sure to have some distance in case the lizard was playing possum to let down their guard. After confirming it was truly stunned, they nodded before reaching inside their cloak to grab a ball that they threw at the lizard. Upon hitting it, the ball opened on a hinge and with the sound of something being swallowed, the lizard glowed white and got sucked into the ball which closed after a few seconds and dropped to the ground. The ball wiggled for a few seconds before it came to a rest with the bulb blinking green.
The surfer approached the ball and picked it off the floor with a light throw into the air before placing it back beneath the cloak. They felt a change in the wind and turned to find the wind flare that they had been trying to outrun. It was like the sign of the apocalypse with how the wall of sand and wind stretched from end to end as far as the eye could see, with the odd lightning flashes coming from within the wind flare. The surfer cursed as they ran to their surfboard, and with the sail catching the wind, sailed off to where they were meant to head to.
Despite the speed they were travelling, the storm was faster, and they were getting caught at the edges of the storm with sand being blown about and impeding their vision. Thankfully, they caught sight of the valley where their home was, but they could tell the storm would have activated the storm protections and locked down the place. With a grimace hidden behind the mask and goggles, the surfer went through the gap of the rock formation, the narrow channel helping to focus the wind to push the surfboard further. As they reached a dead end, the surfer collapsed the sail while reaching to grab a pole that was protruding out of the rock to help swing them around into a nook that was cleverly hidden, offering some cover from the sand blasting. The surfer continued through the gap before reaching a rock smoothed out from time and the wind flares. Reaching downwards while battling the winds coming through, the surfer pulled it upwards to reveal a hole for them to jump down, one hand grabbing the handle beneath the apparent hatch to shut it.
The surfer briefly fumbled about in the dark before they found the lever to pull down, making crystals embedded in the walls to glow and show the passage they had fallen in. Looking back up at the hatch, they made sure it was shut tight and proceeded to move along the short rock passage and around a rock ledge that cleverly hid the gap for those not in the know, entering a different passage that showed more signs of being man-made in the form of the walls now made of roughly chiselled bricks and a floor smoothed out from years of feet walking on it. Reaching the end of the passage, they pushed against the wall to open a hidden door, getting inside and closing it shut before they reached to remove the goggles, head cloth and mask.
"Wind flares are getting more frequent." The male voice coming from the figure sounded tired as he moved to the wall next to him and pressed a button that turned on the lamps in the room, showing that the figure was a young man with long black hair tied into a very rough ponytail and needing a good scrub. He was heavily tanned from the exposure of the sun, and he had a light stubble growing. His eyes would make one think of emeralds that would need some cleaning before they could shine brightly.
Presently though, said eyes were narrowed as the man turned on the lights to show that he was now in a decent sized room that opened up to a decent sized chamber that was a blend of smooth stone and slightly tarnished metal, with a glass box blocking the way in front of him. He placed the goggles and mask on the nearby table and hung both the head cloth and cloak on hooks near that, and then started to remove his boots and other items used to protect himself from the elements and placed them in a basket along with the bag used for the trip. After doing that, he sent them along a chute to be cleaned and sanitised before he entered the glass box to have bursts of air coming through to remove the sand and other sediments off his body, a light spray of water to wash off anything stuck to the hair, and then a final burst of air to dry it off. He would take a proper shower later, but he needed to ensure the place was not showing cracks from the latest storm.
Exiting the glass box, he entered a long hallway that showcased more of metal scaffolding and a hollowed out tunnel leading to a staircase. He walked along the path while inspecting the metal and rocks, then climbed the short staircase that led to a door, through which it opened up to an open space with doors leading to different rooms.
"Home sweet home." The young man gave a small smile as he could relax a little. He went about inspecting his home, making sure the walls were still intact and the protections were holding. It may seem redundant though given the place was deep within the small canyon with stone walls surrounding it to protect it from the winds and it was also sheltered from the elements by virtue of the place being underground. But he was in an unforgiving environment and he had to be certain. The man went upstairs to a room that had windows currently covered from the house's protections, facing away from the main storm. He pulled back the cover briefly only to jump and close it shut from the lightning flare that flashed across it. He had to blink a few times to get the dark spots out of his eyes before he could continue checking the place.
Once done, he went to a different room that had a large table in the middle of the room with symbols and a crystal ball embedded in the middle of it. He pressed one of the symbols to make the rest glow before the orb lit up and portrayed an image above the table and around him to display what looked like a cyclone at full burst with different red points appearing. The young man looked about the image in consternation and pressed a few more symbols on the table to check something before he pulled back with a sigh.
"Damn it, the Ever Dusk is early this year." The young man reached to rub the bridge of his nose as he considered the situation. In some odd manner, it was a good thing he caught the Dune Lizard since it meant he had food for at least 3 months if he prepared and rationed it properly, but based on the readings, he was going to need to do more hunting to stock up on food. Sol Aratooine was a planet of extremes: hot and suffocating in the day, while frigid and unforgiving at night, with the wind flares coming out randomly no matter the time and place. While the night was something of a blessing for those working under the intense heat, the night carried a different set of problems for those living in these parts of the planet. There were monsters that would only come out under the cover of the night, and even for those 12 hours of darkness, the residents had to stay vigilant and keep the fires burning in the night.
The Ever Dusk would make that worse, because that was when the planets would be aligned and the sun would be blocked, plunging the planet into darkness for at least one year. And there were creatures from the dark that would make the Dune Lizards look like small pets in comparison of both size and behaviour. This phenomenon happened every odd decade so people were somewhat prepared for the signs, but this was a lot earlier than expected.
He would need to ready up the defences.
"Nothing to it, time to prepare the lizard." He moved away to a different room that had a flight of stairs cut into the rock, going deeper into the earth until he reached a room that had a pit roughly 2 stories deep and a cover covering the opening. He took out the ball that held the lizard and dropped it into the tube, watching it come out at the end inside the pit where the ball wiggled before popping open, revealing the lizard that was still bound but now awake. Its eyes moved a bit before focusing on him, and it was clear that there was deep hate towards him as its attempts to free itself increased with notable strains on the spell bindings.
No hard feelings, out here it was just survival of the fittest.
The young man reached out to grab the lever next to him, and with a pull, a green light filled the chamber that had him closing his eyes and turning away from the glare. After a few seconds count, he opened them and turned back to see the lizard no longer bound by the field and not moving. Just to be certain, the young man pulled another lever to release some small rocks from a hole to fall on top of it. The lizard did not budge even with some of the bigger rocks hitting its snout, so the young man decided to take a chance and raise it up to his level while maintaining the grill cover. Once it was roughly a foot away from the grill cover, he stopped it and prodded it with the staff, then used the tip to check on the eyes.
"Looks like I have some fresh meat." The man let out a sigh before he brought out another ball to store it inside for easier transport to the food storage room. With a quick cleanup of the pit, he spent the next few hours checking and cleaning up his stuff. Taking a peek outside, he knew there was no point to going outside, so he started making dinner to eat early. As he watched putting the finishing touches, a ringing sound drew his attention to the crystal orb that was lightly glowing. Turning off the fire, the young man went to the orb and pressed it with a finger, projected an image around him and showed him the faces of two other guys.
"Yo, Potter! Some storm we are having huh?"
"Hello to you too, Finnegan." The young man's mouth twitched at the voice. "I am guessing your side is getting dusty."
"If by dusty, you mean the wind flare is throwing dirt all over the place and messing with my whisky making, then yes! I just lost a full batch due next month because of this damn storm!"
"Same here guys." The other caller agreed. "The wind flare is delaying the next shipment of oils I need for the ship. And despite Seamus's declaration, the ship can't run on spit and moonshine."
"Bullshit! Moonshine works for everything!" The first guy's proclamation earned rolling eyes from the other two, more than used to the alcoholic's claims about his favourite beverage.
"Harry, do you have any of those purple fruits you showed me the last time? I would like a couple of them for the upcoming dinner." The second caller asked the young man who nodded.
"I should be able to send them over once this storm stops. Worst case scenario, I will just use the drop off point to do it." The now named Harry Potter frowned. "But if my readings are correct, the Ever Dusk is hitting early this time round, possibly within a few months if not weeks. And there is a chance this is going to last longer than the last one."
"Well shit!" Seamus cursed loudly at this.
"If that is true, then we need to stock up quickly." Dean frowned at the news. "I have enough to last for a few months, but the supplies are low."
"Better start gathering supplies once the storm stops, although I am not sure how long this wind flare will last." Harry winced at the roar of thunder that came on as though the storm wanted to remind him about the situation.
"Well then, we will leave you to it. I need to start battering down the hatches if you are correct about the Ever Dusk." Seamus spoke before they ended the call, leaving him to consider what was likely to be a bad storm for the coming year or so.
Just perfect.
~ooOOoo~
The next morning, the young man woke up to the sight and sounds of the wind flare still going on outside of the compound. Sighing at the situation, Harry decided to get the lizard cut up and smoked for the period. It was a messy process that took the better part of an hour due to the size and toughness of the hide, but he got the lizard rendered with the meat smoking nicely in the smoke room and the skin being tanned for use. Nothing was going to waste like the bones being cleaned and dried to be used for weapons or for medicinal purposes, and the organs temporarily stored to use as bait for other creatures. Harry then went to check on his personal garden to water them and prepare the fruits for Dean to use.
After eating his breakfast and checking on the storm, Harry decided to just go to the dropoff point to hand over the fruits to Dean. Grabbing the fruits, Harry went deeper into the ground where a weird vehicle was locked in place in front of a blast door. He secured his cargo and grabbed the controller to open the door while he released the cables on his vehicle. With the clamps removed, the young man got on it and turned on the ignition before he moved into the tunnel lit with lights.
"Call Dean Thomas." Harry spoke through the mouthpiece with a small icon at the corner of his goggles showing the call connection. When it switched to voice mail, Harry spoke. "Dean, this is Harry. The wind flare is still going strong, so I am dumping the fruits in the usual drop off point underground. After that, I will be going about the old smuggler routes to try and find more exits on account of the Ever Dusk. Catch you later." He ended the call and continued on until he reached a supposed dead-end, but kept on going on a collision course with it and just drove right through to enter a small cavern that was hidden behind some clever cloaking mechanism to make it look and feel like a wall unless one had a device to allow them in.
Harry stopped the vehicle and got off to remove the package, then walked to the part of the wall where he removed a rock and reached inside the cavity to pull the hidden lever to open up the wall next to him. He placed his package inside and made sure the dehumidifiers were still working to ensure the items stayed fresh before replacing the false wall and stone, and then moved out of the cavern.
It would be one hour later that Harry stopped at a tunnel that he had personally dug out to a location that may have once been a temple only to be buried by the sand and lost to time, a place he had kept secret over what he found even from Dean and Seamus since it was not something people of their caste level should be handling. But he was a bit of a rebel at times, and this had to be the most rebellious secret he had at the moment.
Harry took his time to crawl through, grunting at the tight space along the way and finally exited into the antechamber that opened up to a large library filled with books and scrolls from all ages, all the way to what may be the early versions of the digital scroll. He went to the stone table that he had cleaned ups used by current settlers. Dusting off his clothes, Harry made his way to the stone table that he had managed to salvage and was presently laden with some books. On account of the weather and what was to come, Harry chose one particular book to hopefully help with the matter.
"It is foolhardy to believe one can control the weather, for nature cannot be truly contained. One must instead accept the fact that natural forces are something that one has to coexist with." Harry read out loud the entry while fiddling with a staff that he had found in the space. "Understanding that will allow one to at least redirect that energy elsewhere for a period of time, and the more one flows with nature, the easier it is for nature to respond." Harry put down the book and twirled the staff, looking for a window for him to look out from. Securing the staff to his back, Harry climbed to the one closest to him with the cracks in old pillars, rock protrusions and old shelves as his foothold, taking a couple of minutes to look out of the reinforced glass to see the storm still going. With a breath, he gripped the staff and pointed the top at the storm, the crystal glowing as he focused on what he wanted.
"Tempestus Amicus." He spoke softly and almost dropped to his knees from a pressure settling on his shoulders. There was a "connection" that Harry felt came from the wind flare going on, and it did not like the idea of someone trying to command it. Harry took a few deep breaths and let his thoughts do the talking. After a few tense moments, the pressure eased but the presence was still there as if it wanted to make sure he only did what he was thinking. He did just that as he twirled the staff and before his eyes, the sand storm lessened and then some light came through the window, showing an empty part of land before while the storm continued swirling about the place.
Harry whooped at the success he had gotten from this test. He had been learning magic in secret ever since he found this place, and had used it to better his lifestyle and his friends a little in this harsh environment. He dared not do too much since this planet was still visited by certain nobles despite the far off location, and they would know if someone was using magic in the area. But he really wanted to try the big spells for once, and he got it on the first try.
This was great!
His moment of joy got interrupted when his ears picked up the sounds of an engine before the view got blocked by a ship that flew above him with smoke trailing behind, and then smaller ships appeared shortly after with sounds of beam fire echoing about in the area and beams of light hitting the bigger ship.
"Whoa!" Harry instinctively ducked despite being indoors, watching the bigger ship beginning to nose dive from the damage. From what he could tell, it was a Vongila Civilian transport ship, one of the best graded ships around that could sell for millions of credits for salvage. Based on the ships chasing it, they were raiders trying to catch whoever was inside and probably sell off the parts if not capture the folks inside. Around here in Sol Aratooine, it was a dog eat dog world where the folks and the raiders would do whatever was needed to survive, and that unfortunately included killing or capturing nobles for ransom, or to sell as slaves.
Harry fiddled with the staff as he watched the bigger ship crash into the sand a few miles from where he was. He should not get involved with this. He was just a scavenger, a tinker of parts, and an occasional smuggler trying to survive in these lands, he should be keeping his head down.
He should not be getting involved with heroism.
Harry watched the bigger ship slide to a halt with the raiders taking pot shots at it, then noted something moving across the sand. He gave a wave of the staff on the window, making it act like a magnifying glass to focus on what he saw. The image cleared and he watched a group of people moving across the plains to the rock formation closest to them for cover, consisting of a few adults and small children, mostly young girls at that. Looking at the dark-haired girl helping what could be her sickly younger sister had his guts churning before he let out a sigh.
Well, he wanted practice with the other spells he had found. He was not going to get a better chance than this, and if he was right, those were the Bedlam Raiders that had messed with his work and wrecked Dean's paintings and Seamus's business. He should pay them back for messing with them.
That was a good enough excuse for him.
Author's Notes:
It is a good thing I have this set of ideas cross-posted on account of the recent spate of failures on this site. Now I am wondering if I should start cross-posting the other active stories here in case FF decides to go wacky again. I am planning the same for FF version of rwby1989. What do you guys think?